Extra bank holiday to celebrate Queen’s Diamond Jubilee

Workers are to be given an extra one-off bank holiday in 2012 to celebrate the
Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

Workers will get an extra day's holiday to celebrate the Queen's JubileePhoto: GETTY IMAGES

By Robert Winnett, Deputy Political Editor

7:00AM GMT 28 Dec 2009

The special bank holiday, to mark the Monarch’s 60 years on the throne, will be on Monday June 4 – her official birthday. The traditional late spring bank holiday will also be delayed until Tuesday June 5 to give the country a four-day break.

The plans will be announced by Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, in the New Year. Ministers and the royal family are still considering how to mark the Queen's diamond jubilee with plans for a nationwide series of celebrations.

There is expected to be a contest for up to two towns to become cities with substantial extra public funding for the winners. Princes William and Harry are also expected to be involved in the establishment of a new youth volunteering scheme. A service of thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral is also being planned.

There may also be a parade and possibly even another rock concert following the success of the Party at the Palace event to celebrate the Golden Jubilee in 2002. An estimated one million people lined The Mall to cheer the Queen.

Schoolchildren and teachers are expected to be given a longer summer holiday to compensate them for the bank holidays falling during half term.

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The Diamond Jubilee celebrations will take place just weeks before the London Olympics begin. However, the Queen, 83, is reported to believe that the celebrations have their own identity rather than just being a curtain-raiser for the games.

The extra bank holiday is to be announced following a campaign by MPs. Andrew Rosindell, a Conservative MP who introduced new legislation calling for the extra day off, said: “I am delighted this is going ahead.

“The Queen has been an outstanding head of state. It is important that the Diamond Jubilee is not drowned out by the Olympics and this is a good way of ensuring that.”

Lindsay Hoyle, a Labour MP, added: “It is a momentous event and the whole country and Commonwealth will want to celebrate the longevity of the Queen and her magnificent service. She commands respect from everyone, regardless of political differences. She is part of what makes Britain special.”

Labour is under pressure from the trade unions to introduce another permanent bank holiday. England and Wales have eight bank holidays annually, compared with a European Union average of eleven days.